Brands are making social media blunders all the time, and mostly on Twitter. These bloopers, if handled well, can get fun and bring some positive leverage too. IBN Live, one of India’s sources for breaking news updates, and also an active media brand on social media tweeted a “wow” at midnight yesterday but did not blame it on the intern.

In fact, it has accepted and explained its mistake, and ensured that “no intern was harmed in the aftermath of ‘Wow’”.

Interestingly, IBNLive has put up an article in the aftermath of the “Wow’ tweet and the hilarious reactions afterward. The article explains that “wow” was part of a scheduled tweet for a news headline about a base jump from the top of Freedom Tower along with the news link. However, a technical glitch caused only the “Wow” part to be tweeted.

Clarifying that no intern was harmed in the aftermath of the “Wow” tweet, the article has even curated some of the hilarious comments they received on Twitter using Storify. Reproducing a few of the funny responses from the story here:

You know it’s too late in the night and time to sleep when even News channels Drunk tweet. RT @ibnlive: Wow!”

Tweeting “Wow” might not really qualify as a serious Twitter blunder, still IBNLive has been a good sport in accepting its mistake after deleting the accidental tweet. Also, writing the clarification article and curating the funny responses has only added to the positive branding. With smart reputation management, the IBNLive Twitter presence has not only come across as ‘human’ but also leveraged the opportunity to engage with its readers.

“We at IBNLive hope that the ‘wow’ always stays as the primary reaction to the work we do,” the article stated in conclusion.

Last year, Nokia New Zealand had tweeted, “F*** you” to its 916 followers; of course, in error! But, it quickly realized the folly and issued an apology tweet, adding a dose of humour. Within 13 minutes, it tweeted – Hi everyone, contrary to the last tweet, we love our Nokia NZ fans! Apologies to those who were offended- we’re investigating the source now.

This one tweet helped prevent the resulting Twitter backlash from snowballing further. In fact, it helped the Nokia NZ account to grow its Twitter followers.

Being human, admitting your mistake and apologizing always works for Twitter bloopers, just as it works in any human relationship. Hopefully, brands start believing in this and stop blaming the interns for their social media blunders.